In Jainism, the “beginning” is understood very differently from how normal history is told, so I’ll start from that point.

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1. How did Jainism start from the very beginning?

(a) Jain view: Dharma is beginningless

• According to Jain philosophy, Jain Dharma is not founded by any one person at one point in time.
• The universe itself is anādi–ananta (without beginning and without end).
• In this eternal universe, dharma (true religion / path of liberation) also exists eternally. It sometimes becomes clear and strong, and sometimes becomes weak and forgotten.

So Jainism is not “started” by Mahavir or any one Tirthankar. They are discoverers and teachers of this eternal truth, not creators of a new religion.

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(b) Time cycles and Tirthankars

• Time moves in endless cycles, each with two halves:

- Utsarpiṇī – ascending (conditions slowly improve) - Avasarpiṇī – descending (conditions slowly decline)

• Each half-cycle has 24 Tirthankars.
• We are currently in the Avasarpiṇī (descending half) of one such time cycle.
• In this current descending half, the first Tirthankar is Shri R̥ṣabhdev (Ādināth) and the 24th is Mahavir Swami.

So when we ask, “How did Jainism start?”, in practical terms we usually mean:

> “How was Jain Dharma re‑established in this current time cycle?”

For that, we look at Bhagwan R̥ṣabhdev, the first Tirthankar of this Avasarpiṇī.

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2. Who is the first Tirthankar?

• Name: R̥ṣabhanāth / R̥ṣabhdev / Ādināth
• Meaning of “Ādināth”: “The first Lord” – first Tirthankar of this time cycle.
• Both Digambar and Śvetāmbara traditions:

- Accept R̥ṣabhanāth as the first Tirthankar. - Accept that he re‑organized both spiritual and worldly life for humans.

• Details like his exact height, lifespan, some family names, and certain events differ slightly in texts of the two traditions, but his status and role are the same.

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3. What did R̥ṣabhdev do? (Roots of Jain tradition in this era)

Jain scriptures describe that in this phase of the world:

• People had become simple, pleasure‑oriented and ignorant of higher values.
• There was no clear system of:

- Society (various professions), - Education and arts, - Spiritual discipline.

R̥ṣabhdev is said to have:

(a) Gave structure to worldly life

He taught people basic civilization:

• Agriculture – how to grow food.
• Trades and arts – various skills and professions.
• Script / writing (in some traditions) – so knowledge could be recorded.
• Social organization – division of different types of work (not in the narrow, rigid caste sense, but as division of duties).

Because of this, he is sometimes described as the first law‑giver and organizer of human society in this time cycle.

(b) Then turned everyone towards spiritual life

After organizing worldly life, he himself:

• Renounced worldly pleasures, kingdom, and possessions.
• Accepted dīkṣā (renunciation) and became an ascetic.
• Performed deep tapas (austerities) and dhyān (meditation).
• Attained Keval‑jñān (perfect knowledge).
• Became a Tirthankar – one who:

- Has crossed over the ocean of saṃsār (birth‑death), - And creates a “tīrth” – a four‑fold Jain saṅgh: - Sādhu (monks) - Sādhvī (nuns) - Śrāvaka (male householders) - Śrāvikā (female householders)

Thus, from him, the organized Jain Saṅgh of this Avasarpiṇī begins.

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4. Significance of the first Tirthankar

(a) Beginning of the present Jain tradition

• R̥ṣabhdev is the starting point of the present chain of 24 Tirthankars in this half-cycle.
• He revives and clearly teaches:

- The nature of soul (ātma), - Karma theory (how bondage and liberation happen), - The path of Right Faith, Right Knowledge, Right Conduct (Samyak Darshan–Jñān–Chāritra).

So, for our current era, he is like the first clear lamp of Jain Dharma.

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(b) Connecting worldly duties and spiritual path

His life gives a balanced message:

1. First, he taught how to live a disciplined, civilized, ethical worldly life.
2. Then, he showed that even after such a great worldly position, true goal is moksha (liberation), which needs renunciation, non‑violence and self‑control.

This teaches:

• Dharma is not against worldly duties,
• But above them – eventually one must rise from comfort and attachment towards vairāgya (detachment).

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(c) Ideal of complete renunciation and non‑violence

As a Tirthankar, R̥ṣabhdev:

• Practiced supreme ahiṃsā (non‑violence),
• No attachment, no aversion, complete equanimity,
• Showed the possibility of a human soul going from ignorance to Keval‑jñān and then to Moksha.

He is the model of what any soul can ultimately become, if it follows the path sincerely.

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(d) Common ground in both traditions

• Digambar and Śvetāmbara both:

- Bow to him as Ādināth, the first Tirthankar, - Acknowledge his role in: - starting the Tirth (Jain Sangh) of this time cycle, - organizing social and spiritual life, - teaching the eternal Jain Dharma again.

Differences are there in narrative details (like some episodes of his children, certain miracles, etc.), but the core significance is identical.

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In simple words

• Jainism did not “begin” like a new religion; it is seen as an eternal path.
• In this current world‑cycle, that eternal path was re‑shown and organized by Bhagwan R̥ṣabhdev (Ādināth), the first Tirthankar.
• He:

- Brought humans from a raw, disorganized state to a civilized, ethical life, - Then turned them towards spiritual awakening and liberation, - Established the present Jain Saṅgh and tradition that later Tirthankars, including Mahavir Swami, continued.

So the roots of Jainism in our present era are deeply connected with the life, teachings, and example of the first Tirthankar, R̥ṣabhdev Bhagwan.